What matters most to women when it comes to passing down wealth?

By 2025, 60% of Britain’s wealth is projected to be in the hands of women , which is a significant shift in the current context of continuing challenges such as the Gender Pay Gap and the Gender Pensions Gap, which still stands at 35%, and at only a slightly lower 32% for those eligible for auto-enrolment.

It's vital that women’s distinct needs and concerns are heard and understood in relation to passing down wealth – and advice, an area we probed in national research of previously advised women. While, just some of the key findings are detailed below, you’ll find the full report on family wealth planning here.

Sharing an adviser

Our research shows more than one in three women (37%) already share their financial adviser with another generation. That other family members benefit – and potentially integrate their financial arrangements with their own is clearly important, as over half this number pay for the other family member’s advice, the rest saying their family member pays for the adviser’s time themself.

Kirsty Anderson, Pension Specialist at M&G Wealth – ‘this seems particularly relevant when we look into the views of women when they consider passing on their wealth.  One of the biggest challenges facing advisers today is that many clients, even if they have an inheritance tax burden, don’t want to pass their wealth on.  They want to retain control.  However, the views of women are very different as they want to see the benefit of their gifts with many indicating they plan to pass on their wealth to children and grandchildren in their lifetime.  This in turn will provide additional planning opportunities for advisers so it’s even more important to ensure women feel heard and seen by their advice firm.’

‘Family fairness’ critical for female clients

When asked to define the main benefits to them of sharing an adviser, women's most common assertion (37%) was that it ensured the whole family is aware of each other’s financial position. 35% of women also felt that shared advice ensured everyone in the family was treated fairly.  Echoing this, 32% of women felt that it helped younger family members. And clearly sharing is not just about the generations that follow, 35% of women expressed that it supported a parent or grandparent. To highlight the importance women see sharing an adviser, the practical advantage of saving money on tax as a benefit ranked a comparatively lowly 26%.

Kirsty Anderson – ‘research also shows that understanding the family situation is as important to women as pricing which is particularly relevant in the context of Consumer Duty.  If a woman values the service being provided by their advice firm and has a personal relationship with them, this will be of the same importance as the cost of the services provided.  By feeling valued, they’re more likely to stay with that advice firm (should something happen to their partner) and so are their children in turn.  We’ve also seen the opposite of this with the adult children of women playing a pivotal role in encouraging their mum to leave a firm where they don’t think she’s been heard.’

Areas of greatest financial concern centre around cashflow

Intergenerational priorities apart, our research highlighted how women’s largest single concern over the next 12 months is not being able to save any money (26%) - considerably greater than men at 16%. This perhaps being a result of women owning the role of the home’s financial guardian. Concerns about short-term liquidity are further confirmed by their second largest concern - not being able to afford bills, due to rising costs. This was the case for one in five women (20%), markedly higher than men on 12%. Advice can clearly help here and by using cashflow modelling can assess the consolidation of debts, re-mortgaging and the re-prioritisation of financial activity to reduce risk.

Kirsty Anderson – 'there is of course a stereotype that all women are less risk averse than men but recent research indicates this isn’t always the case.  Primarily it’s due to a lack of understanding therefore advisers have an opportunity to engage their female clients early on and understand their personal objectives and educate them on investment risks.' 

With women increasingly becoming the gatekeeper for future generations of the same family, Family Wealth Unlocked Report confirms the value they see in not just sharing an adviser, but in integrating financial plans across the generations to ensure fairness and effectiveness in the transfer of wealth.

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